Duo's Story
by Eeni
Summary: Duo remembers bits and pieces about his past as he constantly finds himself in danger.
1. Solo

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own GundamW… I kinnda wished I did have a steak in it…

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1:<br>**Solo_

Duo slowly opened his eyes. It took a moment for his vision to return and focus on the ceiling high above him. Nothing new. Another unfamiliar ceiling in his life. It won't be long till this one is forgotten and he'll be under a new one.

He groaned as he turned onto his side. The pain at the back of his head was throbbing viciously. Not only that, his side was still sore from being roughened up when being pulled out of his gundam. Of course he had resisted being arrested by the OZ soldiers. It had taken them hours just to open the hatch of the Deathscythe. When it had finally been opened, he had kicked the first unfortunate soul who reached out to him square in the face. It took a while and some strong blows, but the soldiers finally managed to bring him under control, just in time for the first of the paparazzi to watch as they carried him away. What competent soldiers they must have looked like in front of the cameras!

"Ahhhh… crap…" he moaned, bringing his hands up to his face. He remembered the officer from earlier who had interrogated him, trying to get more information out of him about the other gundam pilots. He had refused to say anything. Not because he was keeping his fellow pilots safe, but really because he didn't actually know anything about them. Heero Yuy was obviously an alias, no point in even trying to follow up on that. And Quatre Winner, well, he probably stood to lose a lot more than anyone could possibly imagine, so keeping his name a secret was the best way to go. As for the other two, he knew nothing other than they were on his side and that was good enough for him. After a while, the officer had finally gotten upset with his uncooperative prisoner and informed the young pilot about his impending execution. Duo had strongly protested before someone hit him on the back of the head. Then, everything went black, but not before he left the soldiers with a few choice words.

He frowned as this last bit of information lingered in his mind. An execution was a little too much, he though. "Well, I have been living on borrowed time…" he finally grinned as he forced himself to sit up in his cell. Again, he looked up at the ceiling from the cold floor. His mind quickly reaching back in time, remembering the few, fragmented memories he possessed.

#####

The tiny apartment was filthy. The curtains and windows were always closed, giving the place a particular smell and an unpleasantly creepy atmosphere. But no one cared, at least not on this colony. Everyone was poor, and for the most part, not the ideal honest person one could be. The war had left this colony in ruins and its citizens in even worst shape. Anyone who could afford to leave did. Everyone else did what they could just to survive, even if it meant doing things of a questionable nature.

And in this dirty apartment, a small boy cautiously made his way towards the kitchen. There might be some food in the fridge if he was lucky. Unfortunately for him, there wasn't. Just more alcohol and expired microwavables. The boy sighed, there wasn't even water he could use for his hidden stash of ramen noodles. He eyed the beer bottles for a while. He had once used beer instead of water for his noodles, it hadn't been a good idea though. His stomach growled as he grabbed an opened liquor bottle in his small hands and took a few drinks of it. It was bitter and he didn't quite like the flavor, but it was better than nothing.

After placing the bottle back in its place, the young boy made his way down the dark hallway, careful not to trip over the piles of trash and cloths. He hated going into John's room, but there was a chance that he'd find some loose change there and be able to buy himself something to eat at the burger place down the street. He opened the door slowly, peering in and making sure that John really wasn't home before stepping in. His heart pounded in his chest as he searched the floor around the small dresser and under the bed. The last time John had found him in the room he had been beaten blue with a belt. The boy's mouth went dry as he realized that the only money he could find was sitting on the dresser. He weighted the choses before him carefully. Go hungry, eat the ramen raw, or take the money and maybe get beaten again.

The boy's head snapped back as he heard the lock on the front door being opened. He grabbed the money, sticking it in pocket and quickly left the room. He dodged into the bathroom when he saw John walk past the hallway and into the kitchen. He listened as the older man rummaged through the refrigerator for a beer bottle. The boy stood attentively in the doorway for a moment. He had to leave now. If the older man flopped down on the couch drinking, he would surely get pissed at the boy for trying to leave.

The small boy swallowed before dashing out of his hiding spot and heading to the front door. Unfortunately for him, he bumped straight into the older man as he was making his way to the room, bottle in hand. From his slow reaction and swagger, the older man was already drunk as he eyed the boy over. The boy's heart stopped as the man continued to glare at him. Slowly, the boy stepped aside as he tried to inch past the man, whose eyes never left him.

"You worthless shit!" John bellowed as he sucker punched the boy in the face.

The small boy fell to the floor and forced himself not to move. He clutched the side of his face in pain as he listened to John make his way into the room. As soon as the door closed behind the older man, the boy got to his feet and quickly left the house.

##

"What are you doing, Duo?"

The little boy looked up over his shoulder at the voice that had addressed him. "That's not my name!" he snapped.

The older boy standing over him simply shrugged. His dark brown hair was a mess as usual, but he was wearing new cloths. A dark vest and a white button up dress shirt, both of which were far too big for him. Where he got them from was anyone's guess. "I just thought it was a good name for you," he stated flatly. "You don't trust anyone and you seem to hate everyone, yet you bring food for us," he was referring to the rest of the war orphans under his care. "It's almost like you have a split personality," he grinned.

Duo returned his attention to the ground and continued to draw in the dirt with the stick in his hand. "I couldn't bring you anything. Fridge is empty", the little boy replied dryly. He made it a point never to get attached to others. There had once been a girl he had known some time ago, she was slightly older and took care of him for a while. Where she came from, he never knew, but she taught him to never be stingy and always give what he could. However, she had died when the Alliance and Colony Resistance Forces clashed. After that, he tried to do what he could for the orphan children, whom he knew had far less than he did.

"Now what happened?" the older boy reached down.

The small boy slapped the hand away and pulled his long hair over the side of his face in order to cover it. "Go away!" he throw the stick at the older boy, but to no avail. The older boy was four, maybe six, years older than him. He easily overpowered him, taking a firm grip on Duo's tiny hand and brushed his hair off to the side, revealing a fresh black eye.

"That looks nasty…" he finally said after examining the small boy.

"Go away Gavroache!" Duo exclaimed as he pulled away from the older boy. He paused for a moment and looked up the other boy, "Garoch…?" his little face scrunched up as he tried to remember the older boy's name. "Just go away!" he finally got annoyed.

"I told you to just call me Solo" the older boy informed, "everyone else does. And I'm not going anywhere." He knelt down next to the small boy. "You can't go back home," he warned. "That man will only end up killing you."

"He won't" Duo replied as-a-matter-of-factly, "he needs me to go with him in order to get money from charities."

Solo eyed the small boy over for a moment. For a five or six year old, Duo was much smarter then he let on to. Even if he didn't say much, his tiny mind was always working. He was sly and manipulative. Solo had watched the young boy use others as distractions while he stole from venders. At other times he'd even pass himself off as a girl while carrying around some younger orphan in order to gain pity and sympathy from adults, normally resulting in receiving money or a free meal. Solo sighed, if he lived to adulthood, that boy would be a force to be reckoned with.

Duo glanced over at the older boy from the corner of his eyes. This colony was full of orphaned children as a result of the war. It was just something normal now. Solo himself was an orphan, but different from the others. Most children just ran around on their own causing trouble, trying to live day to day, and eventually getting killed. But Solo was different. He had started a gang of orphans in which everyone looked out for one another. The elder children took the younger ones under their wing and took care of them to the best of their abilities. All the food and money that they gathered, they brought together and shared it. Once, some kids from outside the group had taken money from two of the younger orphans, which resulted in Solo and the older children to hunt the kids down and take their money back. They were a tight knit family, of sorts.

"I still can't let you go back," Solo finally said. "Just come back with me to-"

"Where?" Duo snapped. "With you and the others in the alley? You guys sleep out in the streets!"

"At least we don't sleep in fear," Solo snapped back just as angrily. "We never wake up to someone beating us for no damn reason!"

Duo stared back, wide eyed and mouth half opened. He was about to protest the statement, but couldn't. He did sleep in fear. Correction, he hardly slept due to the fact that he was terrified of John.

The small boy finally got up from his place without saying a word and started on his way back home. He didn't want to back, but it was the only thing he knew. And besides, it wasn't as bad as Solo made it out to be. John wasn't around the majority of the time and he had a sort of safe haven. There were normally leftovers and finding change on the floor was common. Best of all, he didn't have to worry about either Alliance or Colony Resistance members trampling him over, like Solo's group had more than once experienced.

"Duo!" The older boy called out, but was ignored. The small boy continued on his way and soon disappeared behind a corner. It was his home. It was the only thing he knew.

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><p>AN: Yes, I still live. I can't guarantee how often I'll be here, but I will try to finish this in a timely manner. I found the outline for this story while cleaning out files on old diskettes and thought, "I should finish this!". Again, this is another 3 chapter story, this time dealing with Duo's past (like the past two stories that dealt with Trowa and WuFei). I hope it's well received and liked. Enjoy!


	2. Two Sides of the Same Coin

_**_**Disclaimer: **_**_I don't own GundamW… And I think that's a shame!

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2:<br>**Two Sides of the Same Coin_

As he sat looking out the window, Duo contemplated his next move. Heero had left him at this hospital after breaking him out of prison. His side was still sore, and as it turned out, the muscle and tendons on his left side were inflamed due to fractured ribs. A courtesy of the Oz soldiers who had dragged him out of his gundam no doubt. He winced as his right arm wrapped around his side, lightly touching the sore spot. He'd be useless for a few more days, but not Heero. Oh no! Not that freak of nature. If a broken femur hadn't slowed the other pilot down for a minute, then nothing would. Heero's plan was straightforward; infiltrate the Lunar Base and kill the men responsible for building the five gundams while the braided youth recovered from his injuries.

"_Take it easy" Heero had instructed him. "You can go to school for me while you recover. I already enrolled using your name."_

_ "WHAT?" Duo nearly shrieked in anger. Heero might not care about whatever name he took, but he did. Duo hadn't just randomly picked names to call himself. His name was meaningful, it was a promise and a memory he could never forget .He huffed in annoyance. There wasn't anything he could do about it now. He simply sighed and looked up at the other youth. "Don't overdo it" he finally responded._

Heero had simply nodded in response and then took his leave.

"Don't overdo it" he turned the phrase over in his mind a couple of times as he looked out at the colony. "Ya right! Of course he'll overdo it!" He got up from his spot, making his way to a backpack that Heero had left behind for him. Inside were his cloths, washed and fresh, some cash, a small handgun, and some extra ammo. It's been three days since he come into the hospital and it was finally time to take his leave.

#####

Duo' s eyes went wide and danced with excitement. He and the rest of the children couldn't believe the sight before them. Solo and some of the elder children had returned with a bounty of food. Everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to non-perishables to even water and sodas. He had doubted Solo and his crazy scheme to sneak into an Alliance camp to steal food. Everyone had. Everyone dreaded the idea, but it seemed the easiest thing to do. They had broken into stores in the past but that was always a huge mess and rarely ended well. Begging for money was somewhat of a hassle seeing as how people had very little to give, even to children. Then there was going to an orphanage, but those weren't something that the children looked forward to. They were a family, and going to an orphanage would mean that they would eventually be split up. Worst, most orphanages let children go to parents from other colonies. Nope. That wasn't going to happen to this family.

"That was the worst idea ever!" Eliwood huffed as he collapsed to the floor. "We can't ever do that again!" he looked up at Solo.

Solo simply shrugged in his usual manner. "If you're worried about your life you really shouldn't," he explained as he set his backpack down on the ground, "we're not even supposed to be alive. We're living on borrowed time."

Eeni looked over at the boy as she continued to unpack her share of the heist. She sighed softly to herself. She had been with Solo the longest, but didn't seem to be related. Her long, curly blond hair and piercing green eyes were a stark contrast to Solo's sun kissed complexion, dark head, and deep brown eyes. "Maybe, we shouldn't make this a habit," she suggested as she handed an apple to one of the smaller children who took it with delight. "That was dangerous," she continued unpacking the goods, "we almost got caught, and that was scary!"

"But we didn't!" Solo turned his bag upside down, letting all the cans fall on the ground. "And that's what matters!"

"Because we were lucky!" Eliwood chimed in.

"No!" Solo protested. "Because we planned it!" It was true. The children had been watching the Alliance camp for a little over two weeks now. They had been watching day in and day out, taking note of where the watchmen walked, what they checked, what time they passed by. They had also figured out where the food was stored and how often it was delivered. Nothing had been left up to chance.

"How are we supposed to eat this?" a boy named Matheo picked up one of the cans. All the children stared at each other. Solo and the other children who had broken into the base hadn't thought about that when they took the canned food.

Solo pulled out a pocket knife. "I'll get it," he smiled.

Eeni snatched the knife away. "No!" she protested, "you cut yourself last time!"

The younger children all giggled. Solo was brilliant and constantly looking out for everyone, but he wasn't so careful when it came to himself. There was nothing in this world he wouldn't try at least once for the sake of the group, which had lead the boy to many self-inflicted wounds.

"We can find a can opener tomorrow," Eeni was the voice of wisdom of the group. "Now, let's eat!"

All the children cheered and lunged for something to satisfy their bellies.

##

Duo sat silently by himself near the broken window on the third floor of the abandoned building the children where spending the night at. Apparently, Solo was paranoid about staying on the ground level of any place he stayed at. From what Duo had gathered, the older boy didn't sleep if in fact they did spent nights at ground level.

He continued to silently watch the lights on the walls of the colony. Someone had once said they looked like stars that one could see from the observation decks of the colony. But he didn't know because he had never been to one. His right hand reached into his shirt and to the back of his left shoulder. He ran his fingertips slowly over the scar as far as he could reach. He wasn't exactly sure where it ended on his back, but he knew it was long and ugly. It was a permanent reminder of what John would eventually do to him if he didn't return home. Contrary to Solo's beliefs, Duo had left home once before, but that man had hunted him down and then beaten him when they returned to the apartment. It was crystal clear that the little boy was an asset to the older man's way of life. Once in a while, John would take the small child with him to ask for charity. It was from these outings that Duo had learned that pity worked wonders. People were much more willing to spare change when a father was trying to provide for such a small and helpless child.

The small boy frowned at that last though. Was John his father? He certainly hoped not. But there had been a time when he had called him "daddy". His frown deepened at the thought. Not knowing was much more disturbing to him than having to live with some who abused him constantly.

The boy snapped his head around as he heard something move behind him. Eeni was making a straight bee line to him. She sat down next to him and wrapped the large sweater she was wearing around the two of them. She never said much, but her caring actions were more than enough to understand.

Duo curled up into her warm side. After a while he was able to hear her heart beat. Eeni had grown rather attached to the small boy. She loved to dress him up and play with his long chestnut hair, brushing it out as often as he allowed her to. It was one of the few things that made her happy. Marina had once offered to cut it short for him, but Eeni refused fiercely. Years later, after Eeni had passed away, he swore never to cut his hair in the girl's memory.

"My parents used to beat me too…" she began softly. The small boy turned to look up at the girl. Nothing new. Most the orphans had been mistreated in one way or another. "My mother broke my arm once. That's when I ran away and found Solo. He was all alone and didn't know what to do either. He used to cry all the time and was always scared," she giggled.

Duo found this last bit of information rather strange. The picture being painted out to him was that of a helpless person. Yet, Solo had been anything but helpless for as long as he'd known the older boy.

"I'm glad you finally came to stay with us," she continued. "I'd be very sad if anything happened to you," Her voice was laced with a hint of pain as she held the small boy closer.

Duo pushed himself away from her. He was about to protest, but didn't. For a while now, he had been coming and going. It was alright to be away for a day or two. As long as he showed his face around the apartment, John didn't seem to notice that the boy was gone for much longer periods of time than usual. The small boy sighed heavily as he adjusted himself back into the warm side beside him. The rag-tag group of orphans would eventually be moving away from this area of the colony and he would stay behind with John.

That day however, was not here yet and he didn't want to think about it.

##

Duo awoke to the sound of shuffling. He had fallen asleep with Eeni next to the window, now she was propped up on one elbow listening attentively. She placed a hand over the small boy's mouth before he could ask anything. On the other side of the room, the older boys were quickly and silently packing all the food from last night into backpacks. Marina, a girl who was probably nine years old, picked up two younger children and walked over to the window.

"Solo?" Eeni asked silently.

"He and Eliwood are out in the hallway," the other girl whispered back. "I think they're Resistance… we should be alright," she informed a moment later.

An instant later, Solo and Eliwood made their way back into the room. "They're Alliance," he informed quietly. Everyone's hearts sank into their stomachs. Where they out searching for whoever had broken into their food storage the night before? The children all knew that they were in serious trouble if they would to be found with all the food.

Solo bit his bottom lip. They could leave the food hidden and try to make it out. They could always come back for it later. But he'd be damned if they had to leave their heist behind. They had risked their lives for it and he wasn't about to just let it go. Besides he couldn't simply try to sneak the whole group out of the building, someone would notice them and if the soldiers searched the rest of the building they would certainly find the food stash and the children would really be in trouble then.

Solo turned suddenly as he noticed Duo take a satchel bag and climb out the window onto the fire escape. "What are you doing!" he hissed grabbing hold of the child. "You'll get caught!"

"I know," the small boy replied, his blue eyes locked on him. "I'll get caught and you'll get away," he whispered back.

Solo blinked. His confused features slowly diminished as realization set in. His mind raced for a better way to execute the Duo's plan. The whole group couldn't possibly get away without being seen. But if a few of them could hold the soldier's attention long enough the others could get out without a problem. "Eliwood!," he turned to the brunette, "grab a bag and come with us." He turned to other elder children, "take the food and get the kids out when the soldiers aren't paying attention!"

Without any further explanation, Solo started making his way down the fire escape, Duo and Eliwood right behind him. Once on the last landing, before reaching the ground he dumped the contents of his bag onto the iron-work landing, making sure to get the Alliance's attention. It worked. They heard the few men in the building make their way back down the flight of stairs and towards the loud banging sounds. The soldiers who had stayed at ground level made their way around the corner of the building as the trio reached the ground.

Duo's mouth went dry and his heart felt like it was going to leap out of his throat as Solo yanked him forward. The soldiers had found the canned food and were indeed enticed to follow the children. There was enough commotion directed at the trio that they were confident that the others would make it out. This wasn't the first time they had used this bait-and-lure tactic, but it certainly was the first time they had used it on soldiers, and so haphazardly to boot.

At least they wouldn't lose their whole newly acquired stockpile of food. Now it was just a matter of shaking the soldiers off their tails and reunite with the others later on.

And so began Duo's life long career of impromptu schemes. Had he ever learned to be as patient and thorough as Solo, he would have probably been much more successful.

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><p>AN: That was fun... it was a little difficult to write out. The first 2 attempts at this chapter were epic failures (in my own opinion). I'm not exactly happy with this one, but it's the best execution of it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. 1 more chapter to go ^_^


	3. Still Water Runs Deep

_****Disclaimer: ****_GundamW is not mine... I"m sure that if it was I would stop the train wreak of an atrocity know as Frozen Teardrop.

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 3:<br>**Still Water Runs Deep_

Duo's eyes wondered around aimlessly on the ceiling. Yup. Another unknown ceiling over his head again. The only difference was that it might be the last he'd ever see… again. He huffed with a hint of amusement. It was always the last time he'd ever see anything.

He turned his head over to his new acquaintance. WuFei, though, was long gone. From the looks of it, he had slowed his breathing to be so shallow that he was either unconscious or just playing dead because he didn't want to talk to the braided youth. It didn't matter though. Duo disliked this young man as well. He was cold, self-centered, and arrogant. He had mocked him for getting caught. Duo corrected this new ally, informing him that he had let himself get caught in order to allow the crazy scientist time to finish building the two new gundams. Still, WuFei had practically ignored his existence, speaking only with Heero. And the few times that he did speak to him, it was always in a condescending manner. A kick to the head would definitely be justified, but he just didn't have the strength for it. The oxygen in the room was getting thinner and thinner by the minute and his head was already starting to spin. He could barely keep a clear trail of thought in his mind.

Duo pointed the small projecting device that the other guy known to him as Trowa had more or less given him up to the ceiling and flashed it on. It projected the detailed schematics and specifications to his new gundam and gave a rather in-depth overview of the machine. He smiled to himself. How he wished he could live to pilot that new mobile suit.

But the end was upon him once more and he was going to die alongside someone he really disliked. Man, what a crummy way to go…

#####

The plan had indeed worked well. The Alliance soldiers had been so preoccupied with the escaping trio that they failed to notice the other children make their way out the building. The food was saved and the reunion among the children had been delightful. But Duo had been left a bit too shaken up from the experience.

Solo and Eliwood had split up, Solo taking the small boy. They had barely squeezed through an opening in a chain linked fence as the soldiers reached them, but not before one of them had taken a hold of Solo's leg. The two children panicked and before the soldier could pull the boy back over to his side of the fence, a set of small teeth had buried themselves into his arm. The man released the boy and the two children lost no time in running away once more. Duo had looked back over his shoulder one last time. One of the other soldiers had raised his weapon at them, but then, reluctantly lowered it.

The day's excitement hadn't ended there. The children's happy reunion had been cut short later that day as they had somehow ended up in the middle of civilian protest turned violent as the Alliance forces tried their hardest to suppress the uprising. Someone important had once been murdered years ago on this colony, and every year, on that anniversary the colonist would gather and protest against the Alliance and their occupation. It wouldn't be until many years later that Duo would fully understand the situation.

The small boy had broken off from the group of orphans and returned home. Duo was glad to be somewhere which was safer than the streets. Eeni tried to keep him from leaving and after some pleading Solo had jumped in very upset. He snapped at the small boy, calling him stupid for wanting to go back to the apartment. Duo had snapped back just as angrily and before anyone had noticed, the small boy had attacked the older one, of course he was no match for the older boy. Regardless the resulting scuffle had left some ruffled feathers and wounded egos. Duo left without saying a word while Solo had prevented Eeni from stopping Duo as he marched off.

"The little brat will be back," Solo huffed under his voice.

It had been weeks since then and Duo had ran into the small group of children a handful of times. Eeni was always kind enough to tell him where it was that they were staying, just in case he chose to return. But he hadn't.

Duo finished his small meal before climbing onto the couch for a nap. He normally slept in the closet in order to stay out sight, but couch was much softer and more comfortable than the floor and a pile a cloths in the closet. He curled up into a small ball at one of the ends and buried himself under a pile of blankets with his head still sticking out so he could breathe. He really would rather sleep out in the streets, have no food or money then continue living here. He was terrified of John, but he was just as terrified of the clashing factions on the colony. He didn't want to end up like all those people who lost their lives and were tossed to the side and ended up in gutters.

He must have been very tired because he didn't hear John return home. He awoke when he felt his hair being pulled. His eyes snapped open as he felt his tiny body being flung from the couch to the small coffee table in the middle of living room, all the while John was ranting and cursing. Duo cried out in pain as he hit the corner of table. He instinctively wrapped his arms around his side, he could feel the bruise start to form. He cried out again as pain ripped through his small body when John's heavy shoe dug itself deep into his back. The man continued his drunken tyrant as the small boy curled into a ball on the ground. When at last the beating ended, the small boy turned towards the grown man. He watched in horror as the older man reached for a baseball bat that was propped up behind the couch.

With every ounce of straight he had left, Duo forced himself to his feet. Every move he made was another sharp pain ripping through him, but he was sure it wasn't as painful as the being hit by that bat that the drunkard was stumbling for. The small boy finally made his way to the door and looked back one last time. John had gotten a hold of the bat and was heading for him, but he seemed to have tripped and was now lying on the floor. The man slowly lifted his head and glared the boy down. Duo felt his blood run cold in his veins. He couldn't stay here anymore. Solo was right, John would kill him over nothing.

Duo didn't wait for the drunken man to get to his feet. He took off as fast as he could and swore never return again.

##

Duo poked at his upper arm and winced. The pain reassured him that he was still alive. He didn't remember much about the viciously beating. When he had finally found his way where Solo's group had been staying at, he had broken down in tears and collapsed on the floor in utter pain. It hurt when the children had tried to move him. After some frantic moments the older children eventually collected themselves and found someone willing to help with the badly injured boy. He was lucky to be alive. A broken arm, fractured bones, and dozens of deep bruises, but nothing life threatening or horrible as the children had first thought. But Duo knew all too well that it could have been worst.

Soon after receiving treatment, Solo decided it would be best to move everyone as far away from where the small boy used to live as they could. The children didn't want this John person to follow and be a threat to all of them.

"How you feeling?" Solo walked over casually and plopped down on the floor next to the small boy. Duo simply smiled. It still hurt to even lift his arm, but he didn't want Solo to know. The older boy had broken into a few stores and stole some pain killers for him recently. They were of great help, but Solo's face was becoming familiar among shop owners.

"I'm sorry…" Duo managed to mummer. "For not listening to you," he continued, eyes down, "I just-"

The older boy placed a hand on his head. "Don't worry, I'll always be here to protect you and the others." Solo's smile widened reassuringly. "You'll never be alone again because-" Solo cut his sentence short, bringing up his hand to mouth as he coughed.

Duo's smile faded. Solo and Eliwood both seem to have caught the same bug or something from one of the smaller children who was sick with the flu. But Eeni wasn't so sure. Their coughs didn't seem flu-like. It sounded deeper in their chests and raspier. She was sure it had something to do with what the cylinder the two had knocked over the other day. As the boys were rummaging through a military shipping container looking for some cough syrup they had knocked over some cylinders when they got spooked. One of them burst and filled the container with its mist as the boys frantically made their way out. They had returned with only a first-aid kit and the nasty cough.

Eeni watched from a distance as Solo's cough got worst. They needed to get that looked at, but most people they had gone to simply dismissed it as the flu and shooed the urchins away from their stores. One kind old lady had given them some herbal remedy that seemed to help the boys a little. But with no one to look over them or willing to spend money on them the children couldn't get the help they wanted, much less needed.

Eeni approached the two with a cup of the herbal remedy for Solo and some water for Duo, three of the small children followed at her heels. Solo made a face at the cup. The stuff was nasty and left a bitter taste in his mouth. Eeni eyed the boy and threatened to beat him up if he didn't drink it. Solo took the cup and downed its contents, it was better than being on the receiving end of the girl's mean right hook.

"Uggg!" Solo complained.

"Stop complaining!" Eeni growled, "you're worst then Duo and he can barely move."

The smaller children giggled as the older girl put Solo in his place. "Solo is a big baby!" one of the children chimed in.

"I take care of you!" Solo replied as he reached out to playfully slap the child. Before he realized it, the children all piled on him. He cried out surprised as they clung onto him. "Get off!" he ordered, but to no avail. The small commotion got the attention of the rest of the group and in no time, all the children were dog piling on their leader.

The children all laughed as they playfully scuffled around. Their little family was strongly knit together. They may not be blood related, but they surely loved one another as siblings. They all swore to stay together through thick and thin. Nothing was going to bring them apart.

#####

Duo's eyes snapped open as he drew in a sharp breath. His mind flashed with images of the orphans he had lived with such a long time ago. He could see Solo and Eliwood's lifeless bodies laying on the ground after suffering for nearly two years. Matheo, Esaias, and three small girls whose names he never seemed to remember followed soon after. Before long, many of the inhabitants in the colony caught whatever illness that had afflicted the children. The virus spread quickly and clung onto its victims fiercely, but developed painfully slow. It wasn't long before most of the children in the group and the rest of the colony followed suite.

"Are you alright?" Duo heard a voice to his right as he propped himself on his elbow and coughed. He looked up to WuFei who was getting to his feet. After receiving a nod of confirmation, the Asian boy made his way to the opened door attentively. "Someone wants us to live," he looked back at the other youth before peering out into the hallway.

"The gang was looking out for us," Duo smiled weakly as he got up and made his way to the door, "guess they like you too." The Chinese boy eyed him over confused. "Inside joke," Duo passed him as he left their prison cell. He gestured for his new friend follow him.

"Where are you going?" WuFei asked, his voiced laced with distrust.

"I'm gonna go get my new kick-ass Deathscythe and raise hell," Duo sneered wickedly over his shoulder at the other youth. "Wanna tag along on this lil' excursion?"

Duo lead the other boy to the hanger he had stumbled upon nearly a month ago. The gundams didn't seem completely finished, but they did appear to be operational. The two boys eyed each other for a moment before scurrying into their respective machine. As he waited for his gundam to come to life, Duo buckled himself into his seat, placed his hands on controls, and prepared himself for whatever came his way. He was confident that he could take on anything that life threw at him. He had been his entire life. Besides, he was never alone. He always had his small family watching over him.

"Thank you guys…" he whispered as he moved his mobile suit forward. "I'll make sure to raise hell for you too."

End

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><p>AN: YAY! Finished that one on a somewhat more up-tone beat then I normally do. I hope that this was an enjoyable read and that you guys all enjoyed it. Thanks for your time, comments, and patience.

On a side note, I also tweaked and re-edited small things like grammar and sentence structure to WuFei's Story. I'll be doing the same for Trowa's story and hopefully finish up the nonsensical GundamW in Ancient Japan.


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